Understanding and adaptation of performance assessment

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Assessment can be defined as any method used to understand the current knowledge that a student possesses. Assessment may influence decisions about grades, placement, instructional needs, and curriculum. Therefore, the purpose of assessment is to identify how the students think and know, to diagnose the difficulties they face, and to reflect the result of assessment on teaching. But the traditional multiple-choice test failed to evaluate and teach higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills. In this context, performance assessment is being required as an alternative assessment to get better understanding about what the students can do as well as what they know. This article points out some weaknesses of traditional assessments, and comments on the theoretical background and necessity of performance assessment. And it presents more specific information about performance assessment and some examples. It is certain that performance assessment is student-centered and future-oriented. But performance assessment can't be the surest and best way of evaluating the students' abilities. We are just on the way of another experimental stage for improving teaching methodology. More supplementary analyses and further improvements are needed.